Facebook post leads to recovery of stolen truck

BELMONT — A stolen truck was recovered in less than two days thanks to an alert citizen who saw a post about the vehicle on social media and called police.

The truck was stolen early Monday evening from Osborne’s Agway store at 304 Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) in Belmont.

At about 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, a woman spotted the truck as she was driving on East Bow Street, in Franklin, near the skate park — about 10 miles from where it was stolen.

Belmont Police Capt. Rich Mann said the woman’s curiosity was aroused because the truck was in an area where trucks are not normally parked. When she took a closer look at the truck, she realized it was the same vehicle that was shown in a posting the police department had put on its Facebook page the day before.

“There was no damage to the vehicle. None of the contents had been taken, and the keys were still in it,” Mann said.

“It’s nice to see this tool used this way,” Mann said of the department’s Facebook page. “It’s very productive. It’s just what we need.”

A Belmont police officer was sent to examine the truck and gather evidence, such as fingerprints, before the truck was returned to Osborne’s, Mann explained.

A store employee who asked that her name not be used confirmed that nothing was taken from the vehicle. The truck was loaded with wood and other products which were scheduled to be delivered to a customer first thing Tuesday morning, the employee said.